Most ostomates employ some type of bag or pouch system to collect bodily wastes discharged from their surgically created stoma. Today, such bags are generally formed of light weight, odor proof, flexible polymeric materials and the collection systems are designed to be inconspicuous and permit the ostomate to engage in normal physical activity. However, many ostomates, particularly immediately following surgery, have fears concerning their ability to resume a "normal" life. These fears center around worries that the collection system will leak or that odor will escape and that the system will be noticeable even through their outer clothing. Part of these problems are due to the discharge of flatus into the bag which can cause an embarrassing distension of the bag.
In order to overcome the problem of gas build up within the collecting system, it had been suggested to provide a vent opening either in the bag or in the portion of the device which attaches to the body. For example, Cras in U.S. Pat. No. 1,656,328 provides a relief orifice in the pouch, Franklin in British Pat. No. 217,480 and Bradley et al. in British Pat. No. 555,852 provide ventilation holes, Oliver in British Pat. No. 576,181 provides a valve in the collection container, Perry in U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,175 provides a vent opening, Carroll in U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,233 disclose a colostomy guard including vent openings, Baron in U.S. Pat. No. 2,652,055 disclose a colostomy device having vent openings in the disk which surrounds the stoma, Klotz in U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,153 disclose a pouch having a vent opening, Fullaway in U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,248 discloses a colostomy shield having vent openings, Galindo in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,039,464 and 3,089,493 and Smith et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,420 disclose bags which include gas relief valves, Sorensen in British Pat. No. 785,562 and Hansen in Canadian Pat. No. 631,987 disclose disposable bags having an adhesive disk which is used to seal a puncture made in the bag wall to relieve gas pressure, Baxter in U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,368 discloses a disposable pouch having an opening in the top edge for the escape of gas, Elmore et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,109 disclose a pouch having vent means in the outer wall, and Richardson in British Pat. No. 1,212,904 disclose vent means in the clamping ring whereby gas can be forced out of the bag. Other devices for the release of excess gas are disclosed by Diack in U.S. Pat. No. 2,054,535, Raiche in U.S. Pat. No. 2,667,167 and Caldwell in British Pat. No. 1,363,644.
Devices have also been proposed to deodorize or filter the gas before it is vented from the bag. For example, Fenwick in U.S. Pat. No. 2,327,514 includes a deodorant within the colostomy protector, Ardner in U.S. Pat. No. 2,544,579 and Guinn in U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,086 include a filtering or deodorizing element over the vent opening, Burton in U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,235 and Berg in U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,327 also disclose deodorizing the gas prior to venting, Bonfils in U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,677 discloses a bag having a vent opening in the outer wall covered by filter material, Nolan et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,759,260 and 3,804,091 disclose a pouch having an activated carbon fiber filter over the vent opening, Nolan in U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,727 disclose a particular type of filter arrangement, and British Pat. No. 1,416,594 and French Pat. No. 2,310,739 also disclose filtering the gas prior to venting.